All not equal before COVID-19: Politicians get away with social distancing breaches

Koreans are growing wary of politicians breaking social distancing rules and getting away free of repercussions, as the country stands on the brink of what may be a fourth big surge in infections.

Rep. Lee Nak-yon, the recently-resigned Democratic Party of Korea chief and Moon Jae-in’s former prime minister, became the latest elected official to face allegations of a major social distancing hypocrisy.

Gangnam’s district office said Monday it was investigating Lee over a report he broke social distancing protocols. The report said Lee dined in the company of some 15 people, among whom included fellow Democratic Party Rep. Hong Young-pyo, at a restaurant last week.

If true, Lee would be in violation of the ban on social gatherings of five people or more that Koreans have endured for over three months now. The gathering ban, which was instituted just before the Christmas holiday in December, is set to last until April 11 at midnight. But even then, there is no guarantee it will be lifted as infection rates rise to early winter wave levels.

The ex-party leader is hardly the first politician to get caught failing to follow social distancing rules.

In December, Rep. Hwang Un-ha and Rep. Youn Mee-hyang, both of the Democratic Party, were accused of staging social events in groups larger than what is allowed under regulations.

While breaching the rule of four is subject to criminal prosecution and a fine of up to 3 million won ($2,650), neither faced any consequences.

How political leaders got away with apparent disregard for the guidelines contrasts with a case of a maskless commuter on a train that quickly caught social media attention earlier this month. After the case became known, police summoned her for questioning almost instantly.

Public reception is especially sour this time as Lee already has had to home quarantine at least six times over the course of the pandemic after coming in close contact with infected people. Two of those encounters were at private meetings.

One nurse at a large Seoul hospital said the fact that Lee had to go through so many rounds of quarantine may be “a marker of how poorly he is abiding by social distancing.”

“To be officially placed under quarantine you need to have been interacting with that person very closely,” he said. “I mean, I work at a hospital and I never once had to quarantine. Most of my colleagues haven’t, either.”

The double standards for the political elite have once again come under the spotlight as the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would be clearing mayoral election rallies of the social distancing policy.

The ministry’s spokesperson Son Young-rae told reporters during March 25’s closed-door briefing that the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-election campaigns will be exempt from the guidelines.

“Instead the ministry advises that handshakes be replaced with fist bumps and other physical contact be minimized at the electoral events,” he said.

The ministry had also given the greenlight to the Democratic Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate Park Young-sun and other party lawmakers eating street foods together and posing for photographs with crowds in late January, in the immediate aftermath of the worst wave of infections the country had seen. “It’s considered public work,” the ministry said at the time.

Infectious disease professor Dr. Kim Woo-joo of Korea University said the ministry decision to exclude politicians from COVID-19 directives was “unscientific.”

“The virus does not discriminate. It won’t spare politicians congregating because they are in high offices,” he said.

He said the series of social distancing breaches involving politicians was an example of a poor leadership in crisis when people are already exhausted with the rules being extended for months on end.

Hallym University’s preventive medicine professor Dr. Kim Dong-hyun said high-profile figures ignoring social distancing could hurt people’s compliance with social distancing.

“If we start making exceptions, especially for those in leadership positions, it’s going to be harder to solicit cooperation from the public,” he said.

Many have reacted with frustration at the social distancing hypocrisy at the top.

A Seoul resident, who wished to be identified only by his last name Park, said he wasn’t able to see his grandmother who lives in a nursing home all of last year due to infection concerns.

“Visits weren’t allowed at all for months at a time, and even now we are required to present negative test results and make an appointment two weeks in advance before we are able to see her, which I totally understand,” he said.

“But I just feel like the burden of public health is being disproportionately shared by the common people.”

An owner of a cafe near Seoul said she “doesn’t see the logic behind excusing mayoral candidates from social distancing.”

“I don’t think it’s fair that politicians get a pass, when so many small businesses are being crushed by the same rules,” she said, adding that the worst month for her cafe had followed the imposition of restrictions on gatherings.

“Maybe politicians believe what they do is somehow more important than people keeping their businesses open to feed their family or to be able to provide for themselves.”

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)